Search results for "cladodes"

Past and present role of the Indian-fig prickly-pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, Cactaceae) in the agriculture of sicily

1992

Of prickly-pear cacti occurring in Sicily, the most widespread and economically important is Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller. In Sicily it has, since its introduction, played an important role in the exploitation of marginal areas. The Sicilian experience is described with reference to the historical outlines and the present intensive production of late fruit. Information on historical and actual uses of the plant and its products (flowers, cladodes, fruits) is given.

Metabolic profiling and post-harvest behavior of “dottato” fig (Ficus carica L.) fruit covered with an edible coating from O. ficus-indica

2018

Fig fruits are usually highly sensitive to some physiopathological disorders during post-harvest life, such as softening and skin cracking. Indeed, the use of edible coating (EC) has been evaluated in several fruit crops to reduce fruit post-harvest transpiration and to maintain fruit visual quality. The aim of this study was to determine the post-harvest metabolic response of breba figs treated with mucilage extract from O. ficus-indica cladodes, using an untargeted metabolomic approach. Coated and non coated (control) fruit were sealed in plastic bags, and stored at 4 °C for 7 days. The effect of the edible coatings on their quality fruit during cold storage and qualitative attributes wer…

Root growth and soil carbon turnover in Opuntia ficus-indica as affected by soil volume availability

2019

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of soil volume restriction, i.e. root confinement, on below-and-above ground growth of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill) as well as the effect on root architecture and turnover, and soil carbon turnover. In May 2014, 1- year-old cladodes were planted in five different pots size (50, 33, 18, 9 and 5 L). Soil samples were collected from each pot and dried before SOC and δ13C determination. Roots of each plant were divided visually into three groups depending on their diameter, and then measured and weighed. Results indicated a significant effect of soil volume and sampling dates on total root length, root dry mass and δ13…

Effect of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller) on the antioxidant capacity of donkey milk

2017

The cladodes of Opuntia ficus‐indica (L.) Miller were fed to lactating donkeys as an alternative food, in order to evaluate effects on the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of their milk. Lactating donkeys were divided into two groups: standard feeding and alternative feeding. With regard to chemical composition, no differences were observed. Total antioxidant capacity was constant in the standard feeding group, while it increased in the alternative feeding group: the radical scavenging activity increased from 95.53% to 96.62% in the ABTS test and from 28.40% to 33.33% in the DPPH test. This indicated that alternative feeding affects the antioxidant capacity of milk.

Structure-property relationship of PLA-Opuntia Ficus Indica biocomposites

2019

Abstract In this work, a lignocellulosic flour was achieved by grinding the cladodes of Opuntia Ficus Indica and then added to a poly-lactic acid (PLA) in order to prepare biocomposites by melt processing. The influence of filler content and size on the morphological, rheological, and mechanical properties of the green composites was assessed. Moreover, solvent-aided filler extraction enabled to evaluate the homogeneity of filler dispersion, as well as the effect of processing on the geometrical features of the fillers. The experimental data obtained by tensile tests proved to be remarkably higher than those predicted by Halpin–Tsai model, presumably due to the capability of the polymer to …

The Effect of Soil Volume Availability on Opuntia ficus-indica Canopy and Root Growth

2020

The study investigated the effect of soil volume restriction on the below- and above-ground growth of Opuntia ficus-indica through understanding the limit imposed by root confinement via different soil volumes on root and canopy architecture and growth. In 2014, one-year-old O. ficus-indica cladodes were planted in five different soil volumes (50, 33, 18, 9 and 5 L). The cladode and roots of each sampled plants were measured and weighed every six months

Effect of cladode shading on growth and ripening of fruits of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indicaL. Miller)

1997

SummaryFruiting cladodes of O. ficus-indica were covered with shade nets at different stages of the fruit development period to study the effect of the time and duration of shade on fruit growth, ripening time and harvest quality. Shading the fruiting cladodes 0, 15 and 30 d after full bloom (DAB) for a period of 15, 30, 45, 60 or 75 d significantly reduced fruit growth and ultimate harvest size. The longer the shading period the greater was the reduction of harvest fruit size. The greatest reduction of fruit growth (30%) occurred when the fruiting cladodes were shaded from bloom to harvest. Differences in growth rate beween fruits on shaded or sunlit cladodes begun to appear at 30 DAB and …

Dry matter accumulation and seasonal partitioning in mature Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. fruiting trees

2014

Aim of this study was to understand the allocation of biomass into different canopy and root components and to measure the stem area index and its partitioning by cladode functionality (age), for fruiting Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) Gialla trees, spaced 6x5 m apart and trained to a globe. The net primary productivity (NPP), calculated taking into account dry weight gain for above-ground vegetative components of OFI trees was 3.6 t C ha –1 . Including the fruit component and 1 st flush current-year cladodes, NPP of above-ground components becomes 12 t ha –1 , equivalent to 5.4 t C ha –1 . Current-year cladodes were the highest C sink (49% of total annual C fixed in the canopy), secondary grow…

Effect of opuntia ficus-indica mucilage edible coating on quality, nutraceutical, and sensorial parameters of minimally processed cactus pear fruits

2021

Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) is a non-climacteric fruit with a relatively short postharvest life span, being very sensitive to water loss, darkening and decay. Cactus pear is a spiny fruit, and the presence of glochids limits fruit consumption and diffusion

THE EFFECT OF ROOTS CONFINEMENT ON THE RELATIVE GROWTH OF ROOTS AND CANOPY OF OPUNTIA FICUS-INDICA

Summary The influence of soil volume on roots and canopy growth performance of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) was studied at Palermo University. In November 2014, 1-year-old Opuntia ficusindica cladodes were planted in five different volumes of soil 50, 33, 18, 9 and 5 Liters. Three replicates (plants) per pot size were dug out at 6 and 12, 18 and 24 month intervals, thus in total, there were 5 x 3 x 4= 60 experimental plots. The resulting experimental design was a completely randomized design with combinations of two factors, soil volume and month of the sampling, with three replications. Roots of each plant were washed and visually divided into three groups depending on their diameter…